Hampshire wants to scrap the 1987 order barring traffic from 893m of Reading Road, so buses to Robert May's can stop there. Objections close 9 October.
The order that has kept through traffic off a stretch of Reading Road in Hook since 1987 is being scrapped and rewritten, so that school buses can legally use it. Hampshire County Council advertised the proposal on Friday 18 September, and anyone who wants to object has until Friday 9 October.
The county is not lifting the ban. It is replacing it with a modern version that carries a longer list of exemptions, and one of those exemptions is the point of the whole exercise.
What the county wants to do
The order being revoked is “The Hampshire (Reading Road, Hook) (Prohibition of Through Traffic) Order 1987”. Its replacement would be called “The Hampshire (Reading Road, Hook) (Prohibition of Driving) Order 2026”.
The draft order covers Reading Road between its junction with the A30 London Road and its junction with the B3349 Reading Road and Griffin Way North, an approximate distance of 893 metres.
Under the draft, no motor vehicle may drive along that stretch unless it is:
- used for the police, ambulance or fire and rescue services
- used for maintaining, improving or reconstructing the road itself
- accessing premises next to the road, or premises reachable only from it
- loading or unloading at premises on the road, or setting down or picking up a passenger
- a bus or public service vehicle
That last line is new, and the county has set out plainly why it is there.
The reason is Robert May’s
The statement of reasons published with the draft says the purpose is “to facilitate the operation of the school transport service serving Robert May’s School by allowing authorised public service vehicles to use the road for pupil pick-up and drop-off activities”.
It goes on: “The original order will be revoked and modernised to include the latest legal definitions and access criteria. The Council is satisfied that the proposed change presents no additional risk to highway users and will support access to education.”
Robert May’s School is the secondary school for Hook children, though it is not in Hook. It sits on West Street in Odiham, about two miles south, and Hampshire’s own school records list Hook Junior School among the primaries linked to it. The school has 270 Year 7 places available for September 2027.
The 1987 order defined its exemptions in the language of 1987. A “public service vehicle” as the 2026 draft defines it is a vehicle adapted to carry more than eight passengers for hire or reward, or a smaller one carrying passengers at separate fares in the course of a passenger-carrying business. That covers the coaches and minibuses a school contract runs on.
The Hook school bus has been fought over before
The service itself is not new, and neither is local interest in it. Hook Parish Council’s own record notes that the school bus to Robert May’s used by Hook children was saved after a campaign by a residents’ group, Positive Action Against Transport Cuts, which finished in February 2020. The parish council then flagged a county consultation in 2022 on changes to school transport that it described as “significant changes that could affect all users”, brought forward to help close an £80 million budget gap.
This proposal is a much smaller thing than either of those. It does not fund anything or change any route. It removes a legal snag on 893 metres of road.
What it means for you
- If you live on the affected stretch of Reading Road, nothing changes for you. Access to premises on or reachable only from the road stays exempt, as it is now.
- If you object, the deadline is Friday 9 October 2026 and objections have to be in writing, stating the grounds, to the Traffic Orders Team, The Castle, Winchester SO23 8UD or by email to public.notices@hants.gov.uk, quoting reference A2194/MJB.
- Anything you write can be made public. The notice says any statement made in response may be released to the press and public, who may take copies.
- You can read the full papers locally. The draft order, the map showing the location and effect, the statement of reasons and the 1987 order being revoked can be inspected at Fleet Library, 236 Fleet Road, GU51 4BX, open 9.30am to 5pm Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to Saturday and 9.30am to 1.30pm on Wednesday, and at Hart District Council’s civic offices in Harlington Way, Fleet, 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 8.30am to 4.30pm on Friday. They are also on the county’s public notices site.
- If the order is made, buses gain a right they do not have now. Through traffic in general still will not.
Other live closures and consultations across the district are on our Fleet roadworks and travel page.
Sources
- Hampshire County Council public notice, traffic order proposals, Reading Road, Hook, advertised 18 September 2026, and the draft order, schedule and statement of reasons attached to it, for the extent, the 893 metre distance, the exemptions, the reasons, the inspection addresses, the 9 October deadline and the A2194/MJB reference.
- Hampshire County Council school details, Robert May’s School for the West Street, Odiham address, the academy status, the 270 Year 7 places for September 2027 and Hook Junior School as a linked school.
- Hook Parish Council, school bus consultation for the 2020 campaign that saved the service and the 2022 county consultation.
A traffic regulation order is a legal instrument, not a works notice. Nothing is due to be dug up on Reading Road as a result of this proposal.
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